Train-stop.



H. B. ESL-STEM.

TRAIN STOP,

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1. 1916.

1 ,292,529, Patented Apr. 10 191?.

WITNESSES INVENTOI? BY I 1JI I if A TTOR/VEYS HERBERT B. COLSTEN, OF GREAT BEND, PENNSYLVANIA.

TRAIN-STOP.

Specification of Letters lPatent.

Application filedApril 1,1916. Serial No. 88,304.

To all whom, it may ooncem:

Be it known that I, HERBERT B. GOLSTEN, a citizen of the United States,and' a resident of Great Bend, in the county of Susquehanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Train-Stop, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to apparatus for automatically stopping a locomotive, train or car if the same is not stopped upon receiving a danger signal.

The invention has for its general objects to improve and simplify the construction and operation of train stopping apparatus so as to be reliable and efficient in use, comparatively easy and inexpensive to manufacture and install, and so designed that it is entirely automatic in its operation, except as to the setting of the parts after the train has been stopped.

A more specific object of the invention is the provision of a train stop apparatus of that nature which causes the air line .of the air brake system to be bled whenever a train attempts to pass a signal when set at danger position, there being a novel mechanism which is prevented from operating by the use of electrical devices'when the signal is in clear position, but when the signal is set at danger position the electric circuit is broken, which, together with the operation of mechanical devices, will cause the bleeding of the air line of the air'brake system, the mechanical devices being thrown into operation by a third rail or ramp located at each signal.

With such objects in View, and others which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention comprises various novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will beset forth with particularity in the following description and claims appended hereto. 1

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates one embodiment of the invention and wherein similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the views,

Figurel is a combined diagrammatic and sectional view of the stop apparatus; and

Fig. 2 is a side view of a third rail with a train carried shoe passing over the same.

While the apparatus is referred to as a train stop, it is to be understood that this term covers the application of the stop to any propelled vehicle, the traffic of which is controlled-by a system of signals.

At each roadside signal for indicating the clear or danger condition of the track ahead is a third rail or ramp of suitable length, say sixty to ninety feet. This third rail 1 is arched so that its middle portion will be higher than the ends, and consequently vertical motion will be imparted to a shoe -or contact 2 which is suitably carried on the train, as for instance, by a vertically movable rod 3. This rod has its upper end connected with a crank a journaled in a bear ing or support 5, which may be arranged within a protective casing 04. The crank 41: is one arm of a bell-crank lever, the other arm 6 of which is connected by a link 7 with a sliding actuator or rod 8 for avalve-9. The stem 10 of the valve has a spring 11 so arranged as to normally hold the valve against its seat 12. This valve is arranged within a casing which has a chamber 13 that controls the operation of the bleeding or pressure relief valve A of the train air brake system, and the valve casing has also a chamber 1 1 provided with a port 15 by which air can escape from the chamber 13 when the valve 9 is open. The rods 8 and 10 are in alinement, and both reciprocate longitudinally, but they are so related that the rod cannot actuate the valve rod 10 without the interposition of a block or equivalent device. This block 16 is fastened to a movablymounted member 17 that is normally held raised,but when the lifting force is removed the block 16 will drop between the members 8 and 9, especially when the member 8 is moved to the left, Fig. 1, by the operation of the third rail on the parts 2, 3, 1, 6 and 7 and consequently when the shoe 2 passes off the third rail the parts just mentioned will return to normal position, and the member 8 moves to the right and carries the parts 16 and 10 in the same direction, so that the valve 9 will open, whereby air escapes from the bleeding valve A, and the same allows the pressure in the air line of the air brake system to drop and automatically set the brakes.

The block 16 is adapted to be held raised by an electromagnet or equivalent device 18, the pivoted armature 19 of which is connected at 20 with the member 17. One terminal of the electromagnet is connected by a wire 21 with the shoe 2, and the other terminal is connected with the third rail 1 by means of Patented Apr. 16, 191?.

a wire 22, ground 23, source of current 24, switch 25 and wire 26. The switch 25 is normally closed so that the electromagnet 18 will be energized and hold the block 16 raised when the shoe 2 encounters the third rail 1, which is energized or alive as long as the signal is in clear position. The third rail will move the parts 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8, but no effect will be produced on the valve 9, because the block 16 is held raised, but should the signal be in danger position the switch- 25 will be opened and consequently no current will pass through the electromagnet 18 when the shoe 2 encounters the dead third rail 1, and under this condition the mechanical action of the third rail through the parts 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8

and 16 will open the valve 9 and slow down or stop the train. To reset the device the engineer lifts a knob 27 which has a hookshaped stem 28, the lower end of which is engageable with an extension 29 of the armature 19. By lifting the knob the armature 19 is raised and the block 16 lifted from between the members 8 and 10, and the valve 9 will automatically close, which is necessary to permit the train air line to be recharged.

The bleeding valve A comprises a casing 30 in which is a differential piston composed of large and small heads 31 and 32 connected together by a stem 33 which has a bore 34. The end of the casing 30 having the smaller cylinder is connected by an elbow 35 with the air line of the air brake system, and consequently the normal air pressure acts on the right side of the smaller piston head 32 and the left side of the larger piston head 31, and consequently the piston will be held to the right. The chamber 13 of the controlling or pilot valve 9 is connected by a pipe 36 with the left end of the valve casing 30, and consequently when the valve 9 is opened the air pressure is released from the larger cylinder of the casing 30, and the piston will move to the left by reason of the air line pressure acting on the piston head 32. This movement causes the piston head 32 to uncover or open a port 37 in the casing 30, and as a result the air escapes from the train pipe and the air brakes set. Before the train can start, the engineer must supply pressure to the left or larger end of the casing 30, so as to restore the piston of the bleeding valve to normal position. Any suitable means may be employed to accomplish this, such as an air pump 38 which is connected with the pipe 36. To prevent this air from escaping when the piston is to the left, a check valve 39 is provided at the left end of the bore 3%. As soon as the piston is moved far enough to the right to cover the port 37 the train pipe pressure will act on the left side of the larger piston and maintain the same in normal position.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, the advantages of the construction and method of operation will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, and while I have described the principle of operation, together with the device which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the device shown is merely illustrative and that.such changes may be made when desired as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a device for stopping a train, a controller for such device including a movable element, a member adapted to be actuated by a stationary roadside device, a part adapted to be interposed between the said member and the said element for the actuation of the latter by the former, electrical means adapted to be energized under clear traffic conditions to hold the said part retracted from between the said member and element and for permitting the part'to be interposed between the member and element under danger traflic conditions, and manually actuated means for withdrawing the part from between the member and element after the train has been stopped.

2. In a train stop of the class described, the combination of a third rail, a source of current, and a switch adapted to connect the said source with the third rail under clear traffic conditions and to disconnect the source from the rail under danger conditions, with a train carried apparatus for controlling the stopping of a train, said apparatus including a stop device, a controller therefor including a movable element, a mechanism adapted to engage the third rail for receiving motioin therefrom and for electrical connection therewith, said mechanism including a movable member associated with the said element of the controller, a block adaptedto be interposed between the said member and element for causing the movement of the, latter by the former, electrical means adapted to hold the block away from the element and member,

a connection between the electrical means and said mechanism, "a connection between the electrical means and the said source of current, and a manually actuated device for restoring the block to normal position, whereby the movement of the mechanism unaflects the controller.

3. In a train stop of the class described, the combination of a third rail, a source of current, and a switch adapted to connect the said source with the third rail under clear traffic conditions andto disconnect the sourcefrom the rail under danger conditions, with a train carried apparatus for controlling the stopping of a train, said apparatus including a stop device, a controller therefor including a movable element, a mechanism adapted to engage the third rail for receiv ing motion therefrom and for electrical connection therewith, said mechanism including a movable member associated with the said element of the controller, a block adapted to be interposed between the said member and element for causing the movement of the latter by the former, electrical means adapted to hold the block away from the element and member, a connection between the electrical means and said mechanism, a connection between the electrical means and the said source of current, and a manually actuated device for removing the block from between the member and element after the train has been stopped.

4. In a train stop, the combination of a third rail forming an electrical contact and shaped to impart movement to a traincarried contact shoe, a source of current conclosed under clear traflic conditions and open under danger conditions, with a traincarried stop apparatus comprising a shoe ment of the electromagnet and adapted to -i be held by the electromagnet when energized in a position whereby the actuating means is prevented from operating the controller, and a device for removing the member from cooperative relation with the actuating means after the same has operated the controller.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HERBERT B. COLSTEN. Witnesses:

C. S. HARRISON, W. S. KIsTLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

